And people ask why do drunk drivers literally get away with murder?
Let’s Talk about being rewarded for criminal behavior.
It is unconscionable that a drunken driver engaged in one of the most sordid, cowardly and shameful crimes. Hit and run.
The perpetrator ran over an 88 year old woman on increasingly dangerous Streets of San Francisco. She died.
The SFPD finally corralled the perp. What does the Judge do? Grants ‘home detention’ until the Trial. Blowing off the District Attorney’s Motion to keep this killer in jail until Trial.
San Francisco Chronicle 12.11.2025
A man suspected in an Ingleside hit-and-run that killed an 88-year-old woman in October has been charged with murder, prosecutors said Thursday.
Prosecutors asked that Le be held without bail while awaiting trial, but a judge ruled that he would be released to home detention with electronic monitoring, officials said.
Hai Van Le, 48, faces additional charges involving driving under the influence and leaving the scene of the crash. He was arraigned Wednesday and pleaded not guilty, according to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
On the evening of Oct. 26, victim Lau Sim Lui was struck by a driver at the intersection of Ocean and Ashton avenues. Police arrived at the scene just after 6:40 p.m. and found the woman on the ground in a crosswalk.
Medics declared Lui deceased at the scene a few minutes later, from what officials later said was a severe head injury.
A witness at the scene provided police with dashboard footage of the incident, which showed Le’s vehicle stopped at a red light and then proceeding through the intersection after the light turned green, prosecutors said.
The vehicle is then seen running over Lui, who was in the opposite crosswalk, officials said. Officials said the video shows the vehicle’s brake lights briefly activating before the driver continues east on Ocean Avenue.
I have been saying for months that “Interim” San Francisco Chief of Police Paul Yep is no “Interim” Chief.
When Mayor Daniel Lurie named Paul Yep as interim chief of the San Francisco Police Department in June, both said the appointment was temporary.
Finally, the mainstream media has laid out the truth. Paul Yep will be the next permanent SFPD Chief.
The search for a new Chief of Police Is it all cosmetic and the Deal has already gone down for Paul Yep?
The entire San Francisco Standard article is printed herein.
Jonah Lamb – 8.25.2025
In less than two months “Interim” San Francisco Chief of Police Paul Yep has made dramatic moves to reshape the department in his own image, appointing a command staff, reshuffling station captains, cutting civilian reform leaders, promoting a raft of officers to the rank of sergeant and lieutenant, and this week announcing a department reorganization that reduced its bloated leadership.
Over the last two weeks, Yep’s dismantling of the Strategic Management Bureau has raised eyebrows among current and former officers. The civilians who led the bureau had been elevated by Scott and led much of the department’s reforms, including increasing transparency and reducing and tracking things such as use of force incidents.
Catherine McGuire, who headed the Strategic Management Bureau, had been with the department foralmost 10 years; Scott had put her in charge of department finances and reform efforts. Yep divided the defunct bureau’s responsibilities among the remaining bureaus.
In an interview, McGuire said gutting her unit will harm the department in the long run. “This reorganization removes the resources that would allow the department to monitor reforms,” she said. “If you have the internal checks and balances you are able to prevent the external scrutiny, and public scandal, which distracts the department from doing mission-critical work.”
Several of McGuire’s former underlings have been demoted or dismissed from the SFPD, including Kara Lacy, who headed constitutional policing, and Diana Oliva-Aroche, who liaised with city politicians and headed the department’s transparency and equity initiatives. Neither responded to a request for comment.
Another former officer said disbanding the reform unit will set the SFPD back after years of progress and millions of dollars meant to transform the department.
Supervisor Jackie Fielder said she is concerned about where the department stands on reforms, how to handle detentions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and protests against them, and how to address overtime abuse.
“There’s a change-up of leadership in SFPD right now — a cross between [Police Officers Association] and anti-reform people,” Fielder said. “I am confused. Why are changes being made before a real chief is being found?”
Smiles all around.Paul Yep and the man who put him in the Chief’s seat, Mayor Daniel Lurie
The boldness of Yep’s moves suggest to former SFPD command staffers that the chief, who served as an officer for nearly three decades, is interim in name only.
“He came in, and he changed basically the whole upper management of the police department. That doesn’t strike me as the actions of an interim,” former SFPD Commander Rich Corriea said. “Wouldn’t you leave [the] status quo for the next person to set up their command staff? So it suggests to me he will be the next chief.”
Yep maintains that he is only a caretaker, saying the changes he is making will continue reform efforts while setting up the next chief for success.
“As I’ve said numerous times, I’m not a candidate for the permanent position,” he said in a press release. “There is a process for the search for the new chief, and I am confident that the best candidate will be selected.”
Regardless, his actions represent a shift around policing in San Francisco, reversing course on some of the reform efforts that in many ways shaped the career of his predecessor, Bill Scott, according to several former officers. These people, some of whom held high-ranking positions, told The Standard that Yep’s actions indicate that he is auditioning to be the next chief and will return the department to the tough-on-crime model that predated Scott.
At an all-hands meeting soon after taking charge of the department, Yep repeated that he had no interest in taking the job and would not make any major changes to the department, said one person present at the meeting.
“Well, one of those isn’t true,” the witness said, “so I’m not buying the other one either.”
Bill Scott stepped down as SFPD chief in the spring. | Camille Cohen/The Standard
‘Streamlined and efficient’
As soon as he was appointed, Yep moved to replenish a command staff that had been emptied by retirements, elevating four people to deputy chief and eight to commander. Two new deputy chiefs, Derrick Jackson and Derrick Lew, have been rumored to be potential chief candidates.
Yep also elevated outgoing police union boss Tracy McCray to commander, paving the way for the election of a popular longtime cop, Louis Wong, as the new leader of the Police Officers Association.
Yep said the reorganization of his command staff couldn’t wait, and will help to modernize the department. As part of the ongoing reorganization, Yep has reduced the number of bureaus from six to five. He added that his moves will put more cops on the street, but declined to say how many.
“The San Francisco Police Department is more streamlined and efficient than ever,” Yep said early last week in a press release. “These necessary changes will give our officers the support they need to keep our city safe.”
Further down the ranks, Yep has promoted 13 officers to captain, reshuffled all 10 of the station captains, and replaced the head of the police academy. These moves came in addition to a raft of promotions of officers to sergeant and lieutenant, effectively creating a bench of future department leaders hand-picked by Yep.
Even in smaller ways, Yep’s moves have affected the city. He recently assigned additional lieutenants to stationhouses to stabilize leadership, due to the SFPD’s practice of shuffling captains every couple of years.
Not all of Yep’s efforts to shape the department have been successful. In mid-July, his attempt to revert the name of the Community Violence Reduction Team to the Gang Task Force failed after community pressure.
Yep and Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie speak to supporters in November at St. Mary’s Square. | Source:Jason Henry for The Standard
Head coach, interim chief
As interim chief, Yep’s moves are akin to creating a sports team and farm system, then saying he plans to hand the team to another coach. Few insiders buy that he doesn’t want the job of full-time chief.
The last interim chief, Toney Chaplin, who was appointed in 2016 by Mayor Ed Lee, kept much of the department structure in place despite saying he planned a top-to-bottom assessment.
Like Yep, Chaplin initially said he did not want the chief position, only to backtrack and put his name in the running.
After Scott was appointed as chief later in 2016, he expanded the command staff, creating two assistant chief positions, a chief of staff, and a civilian director who was essentially at the same rank and received $350,000 in compensation, equal to a deputy chief. Scott also hired a civilian communications director, Matt Dorsey, who was later elected supervisor for one of the city’s most crime-plagued districts.
Scott’s efforts were focused on shepherding the department through reforms that were only recently completed. The former chief announced his departure in early May, and much of his command staff followed suit. His second in command, Assistant Chief David Lazar, retired that same month.
Happy rank and file, worried reformers
Yep’s changes appear to be popular with the rank and file, who admire his choice of cops with street experience as leaders, according to current and former officers who spoke on condition of anonymity. Many are pleased that Yep has not insulated himself behind a huge command staff, as they believe Scott did. But some former officers worry the department is backsliding on reforms and contemporary policing practices.
One former cop said the promotions were popular among officers, as they involved “real cops,” who are not afraid to get their hands dirty.
A former department leader said Yep’s actions are meant to “right the ship” by getting rid of dead weight and putting into leadership officers who are popular among beat cops. Consolidating responsibilities and getting rid of some civilian leadership is “actually a good thing,” said the former officer.
But others worry Yep’s actions are a step backward, or simply cosmetic. A former department leader said none of the moves made by Yep are fundamentally changing the department: “This is smoke and mirrors.”
As Yep continues to transform the department, the city’s Police Commission is searching for a new chief. It has hired a search firm, Ralph Andersen & Associates, that has released material on the kind of chief the city is looking for, with an emphasis on reform and transparency initiatives and quality-of-life issues like homelessness, the mental health crisis, and open-air drug dealing.
The commission will choose three finalists to put in front of the mayor, who will ultimately decide on the hire. One of those names could very likely be Yep’s.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins is a serial abuser of her office.
By and large San Francisco’s mainstream media has given this slick political operative a pass, instead giving big play to the successful prosecutions, while ignoring the dark underside of how Brooke Jenkins performs her job.
Her years shameful historical record of prosecutorial misconduct is well documented.
Brooke Jenkins history of prosecutorial misconduct started before she quit DA Chesa Boudin’s office in October 2021, labeled herself a “volunteer” (though she was being paid over 150K) and worked as a leader in his June 2022 Recall.
Brooke Jenkins, being rewarded for her political treachery, is sworn-in as District Attorney at City Hall in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, July 8, 2022. | Paul Kuroda for The Standard
Thenbeing awarded for her political treachery by former Mayor London Breed. Selected as DA. Her incumbency has reeked of prosecutorial misconduct. Conduct which has resulted in several complaints lodged with the California State Bar.
The latest story in the Mission Local, a sordid tale which the mainstream media chooses to ignore is illustrative of this journalistic dereliction of its duty.
Excerpted from Mission Local 5.23.2025
The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office has, under Brooke Jenkins, made a “pattern and practice” of improperly withholding evidence in both misdemeanor and felony cases, the city’s public defenders assert.
“That is the tip of the iceberg,” said Jacque Wilson, one of two misdemeanor managers at the public defender’s office. The 50 incidents of late discovery tracked by the public defender’s office is a conservative estimate, he said, since it only includes cases where public defenders are aware of a violation. “It’s a pandemic over there.”
Under California law, prosecutors and defenders must disclose their evidence to one another at least 30 days before trial during the discovery process. This ensures the opposing side has enough time to review evidence before a court hearing.
But in a six-month period between Sept. 1, 2024 and Feb. 28, 2025, the public defender’s misdemeanor unit says it tracked 50 incidents of the district attorney’s office failing to turn over evidence on time.
The DA has had some of this evidence “in their possession for weeks, if not months or years, before disclosure,” wrote assistant chief public defender Angela Chan in a document sent to the Bar last month and obtained by Mission Local.
At times, she added, evidence was withheld until the eve of a trial. And “in a number of egregious cases” important evidence was not disclosed until the middle of a trial, Chan wrote.
It torches my mind to read the news that school yards and playgrounds in this quiet neighborhood nearby the Pacific Ocean are being torched.
Destroyed by arson fire Lincoln Park playground structure – photo Lee Heidhues
Only the most mentally challenged human could engage in such a display of pyrotechnic mayhem.
Lafayette Elementary School and Lincoln Park are both a short walk from our home. Our two children spent many hours in their youth playing in both locations.
Fire equipment at Lafayette School in the outer Richmond District.photo Lee Heidhues
Liz Heidhues and I regularly walk past the sites of the conflagrations.
I had a conversation with our District police captain and told him these incidents of wanton arson are “scary.”
Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle 5.22.2025
Two playgrounds in the Outer Richmond have burned down this week, marking the latest in a string of suspicious fires at an elementary school and park that have triggered alarm among San Francisco parents.
“These things don’t spontaneously ignite,” Fire Dept. Lt. Mariano Elias said. “But we can’t just assume it was arson.”
Burnt out Lafayette School playground
In the past three weeks, San Francisco firefighters have responded to four blazes of increasing magnitude — two at Lafayette Elementary School and another two at nearby Lincoln Park — that reduced the colorful playgrounds at both sites to charred equipment, melted plastic and burnt rubber.
“This is starting to look like we have a serial arsonist targeting our school,” said Hallie Albert, vice president of the Parent Teacher Association at Lafayette. “We are all bewildered.”
The San Francisco Fire Department has not labeled the fires as arson, but spokesperson Lt. Elias said they are considered suspicious.
The first incident happened three weeks ago. Firefighters responded around 1:30 a.m. May 1 to the 4500 block of Anza Street, where they found a burning storage container in the yard outside Lafayette Elementary School, according to the fire department.
Burnt out play structure atLincoln Park Playground just blocks away from Lafayette School
The next week, a small fire burned a hole through a slide around 11 p.m. May 10 at the Lincoln Park playground, at 34th Avenue and Clement Street, according to the fire department.
Then a second fire erupted at Lafayette school around 10:30 p.m. Sunday, sending black smoke billowing as bright flames devoured the playground, according to the fire department and video from the incident.
Parents vocalized their concerns at an emergency meeting hosted Wednesday night with Superintendent Maria Su, Supervisor Connie Chan and members of the police and fire departments, who reassured the community that they are working to catch the culprit.
Later that night, however, another fire erupted less than half a mile away — back at the Lincoln Park playground.
The aftermath of Arson at Lincoln Park Playground – photo Lee Heidhues
Flames fully engulfed the play structure as firefighters responded around 11 p.m. Wednesday, according to the department.
There is one solid piece of political news coming out of the California State Bar take down of San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.
Her hopes of being elected California Attorney General in November 2026 has just taken a major hit. It was just over a year ago that this opportunistic political hustler was playing coy when asked about her political ambitions.
What will she say now? Shameless as she is, Brooke will pitch herself as the aggressive prosecutor who looks out for the interests of the crime besieged average citizen.
Brooke’s apologists will continue to spew forth nonsense. The takedown by the State Bar is just more sour grapes from supporters of Chesa Boudin. The DA she worked for and politically stabbed in the back on her way to calling herself a ‘volunteer’ while earning over 150K to lead his Recall in June 2022. Then being chosen to replace Chesa by now former Mayor London Breed.
Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle 4.8.2025
The State Bar of California is preparing to close out a series of ethics complaints against San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins without reaching a formal decision on whether she did anything wrong, despite finding evidence that she improperly handled a defendant’s rap sheet.
“It’s ironic that District Attorney Jenkins, who often opposes diversion in court — and thereby closes off an avenue for our clients to better their lives — has now been ordered to complete professional diversion,” San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju said in a statement.
Rather than continuing to investigate the allegations brought against Jenkins by supporters of her predecessor, Chesa Boudin, the state bar has decided that the best way to resolve their complaints is by requiring Jenkins to participate in a diversion program, according to letters that the watchdog agency sent to her accusers in recent weeks, which the Chronicle obtained.
The program is not unlike those offered by the criminal courts to give people accused of small-time crimes a second chance. Jenkins has frequently criticized the overuse and abuse of such programs by people who she has said are taking advantage of them. She has scaled back the use of diversion compared to her predecessor, the Chronicle previously found.
Jenkins ascended to her post after quitting her job as a prosecutor under Boudin to become one of his most vocal opponents in the 2022 recall campaign against him. She was hit with a series of complaints in the aftermath of the election, including from retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Martha Goldin, a San Francisco resident who donated to keep Boudin in office.
Among the numerous allegations that Goldin brought against Jenkins was that she misrepresented herself as a volunteer for the recall campaign, and only later disclosed — when legally required because Mayor London Breed appointed her as interim district attorney — that she earned more than $120,000 as a consultant for three nonprofits tied to the effort.
Goldin and another complainant, Alexandra Grayner, who worked as a prosecutor under Boudin, also accused Jenkins of improperly sharing a rap sheet containing the confidential criminal history of a defendant in a high-profile case highlighted by the recall campaign.
California criminal justice grinds slowly and not necessarily fairly.Particularly when the death penalty is at issue.
Why has it taken 16 years for the California Supreme Court to over turn a jury’s verdict now 16 years old?
Why did the trial Judge not declare a mistrial in 2009 when a holdout juror refused to convict?
Instead this Judge ousted the recalcitrant juror, empaneled an alternate juror who voted to convict. Kicking off a 16 year appeal process while the accused has languished behind bars since 2009.
What’s next? Another trial no doubt with witnesses whose memories have faded over time.
Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle – Bob Egelko – 4.3.2025
A California Supreme Court unanimously overturned Timothy Joseph McGhee’s convictions and death sentence for three gang-related killings in Los Angeles between 1997 and 2001. Prosecution witnesses said he had fatally shot members of rival gangs, while the defense said the witnesses had admitted being under the influence of alcohol and drugs and had been coached by prosecutors.
After three days of deliberations on his guilt, the court said, several jurors told the trial judge that another juror appeared to be incapable of making a fair decision, had expressed distrust of the police and had told them, “I am not changing my mind.”
After speaking with other jurors, Superior Court Judge Robert Perry questioned the holdout juror, then removed him, saying he was biased and had refused to deliberate. He was replaced by an alternate juror who then joined unanimous verdicts for convictions and a death sentence.
In a unanimous ruling overturning the convictions and sentence, Justice Goodwin Liu said the juror’s stated refusal to change his mind about McGhee’s guilt did not amount to a refusal to deliberate, and he should have been allowed to remain on the jury.
The juror “was rejecting, not disregarding, the prosecution’s evidence, and the record as a whole indicates that his rejection was based on the evidence,” Liu said.
“There was an evidentiary basis for (the juror’s) concerns regarding the credibility of the witnesses who were central to the prosecution’s case,” Liu wrote. He said many of the prosecutions’ witnesses were current or former gang members, and some admitted having lied to the police.
McGhee, was initially convicted and sentenced in 2009 and who could still face death penalty charges from Los Angeles County’s newly elected district attorney, Nathan Hochman.
McGhee’s lawyer, Patrick Ford, said the ruling “sent the important message that our system won’t tolerate the removal of a dissenting juror,” especially one who was troubled by what Ford described as “massive police misconduct.”
Hochman’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Talk about being nervy and shameless. The current San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins is the same person who called herself a “volunteer” when in reality she was being paid over 150K as she joined the Recall against her one time boss Chesa Boudin.
This is the current DA who has been referred to the body which investigates prosecutorial misconduct for actions she took as an an assistant DA in San Francisco.
This is the current DA unhappy that a 15 year public defender and now Judge, was assigned to hear cases in criminal court. The Mission Local reported that the current DA has taken the virtually unheard of step challenging every criminal case to which this Judge is assigned.
This is the current DA who labeled legitimate protesters Hamas sympathizers when thousands marched on Market Street in October 2023.
“As San Francisco District Attorney it is my responsibility, and right, to share with the public the facts around what happens in criminal cases. Although some judges on the bench may not like transparency around their decisions, San Franciscans have asked for, expect and deserve to know what is happening at the courthouse.” SF DA Brooke Jenkins
Excerpted from The San Francisco Chronicle 3.24.2025
LaDoris Cordell, retired Santa Clara County Superior Court judge and a prominent voice on criminal justice issues in the Bay Area, resigned from the San Francisco District Attorney’s Innocence Commission Monday.Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle 2021
Former Judge LaDoris Cordell, a prominent voice on criminal justice issues in the Bay Area, resigned from the San Francisco District Attorney’s Innocence Commission on Monday, blasting DA Brooke Jenkins’ criticism of local judges.
“The place for a prosecutor to disagree with a judge’s ruling is in the courtroom, not on social media and not in the streets, pandering to voters. …I cannot continue to associate myself with the office of a District Attorney who so flagrantly disrespects our judiciary.”
“I cannot continue to associate myself with the office of a District Attorney who so flagrantly disrespects our judiciary,” Cordell said in a letter to the commission’s chairwoman, Lara Bazelon.
She referred to Jenkins’ recent assertion that a majority of San Francisco judges “do not treat drug dealing as a serious crime.” When a judge sentenced a convicted auto burglar to four months in jail, Jenkins said local judges were allowing criminals “to use this courthouse as a revolving door.”
DA Brooke Jenkins. Catapulted into office by former Mayor London Breed.
In another case, Jenkins’ office recommended a felony prison sentence for a minor theft by a man who had a previous felony conviction, but Judge Gerardo Sandoval imposed a misdemeanor sentence punishable by no more than a year in jail. Jenkins accused the judge of ignoring not only her office but also “the clear will of the voters” who had passed Proposition 36 last November, allowing — though not requiring — prison terms in such cases.
Last year, Jenkins joined a protest by Asian Americans outside the courthouse of Superior Court Judge Kay Tsenin, who had suspended a sentence for a man who had stabbed a 94-year-old Asian woman on the street. Tsenin found that the defendant was mentally disturbed and ordered him to undergo five years of treatment after releasing him from jail, where he had spent 2 ½ years.
After the protest, Cordell said, Tsenin received death threats and was forced to hear cases remotely rather than in her courtroom.
“Judicial independence is the hallmark of a democracy. Anyone who has graduated from law school knows this, which is why District Attorney Jenkins’ recent and scathing public attacks on judges are shameful and unethical,” she said in her resignation letter.
A local senior law enforcement official recently told me, “The truth will prevail.”
March 1st is a historic and memorable day for San Francisco in general and for Liz and me in particular.
Today March 1st 2025 San Francisco officialdom announced a date for the formal opening of Great Highway Park, the two mile stretch of road adjoining the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco.
Liz and Lee in younger days
On this first of March day in 1969 Liz and I moved to a place which came to be known as the ‘Beach House’ in the outer Richmond District. High on a hill this house, still standing 56 years later, overlooks Golden Gate Park and a view which stretches all along the coastline. Site of Great Highway Park.That night we took the 38 Geary bus downtown to the Chinese New Year Parade; ate dinner at Sam Wo and bought two LPs, which we still have today. ‘The Blues Alone’ by John Mayall and ‘Sailor’ by The Steve Miller Blues Band.
Todayofficials from City Hall announcedThe Great Highway Park will formally open on April 12th 2025.
The date,April 12th, has taken on a tragic, traumatic and long lasting significance in Liz’s life.
It was on this day, seven years ago April 12th 2018 that Liz, then 68, was subjected to the first of two citizen’s arrests.
This event has had an ever lasting traumatic impact on Liz’s life.
Liz self portrayal behind bars at San Francisco County Jail.
The fact The Great Highway Park will open on April 12th 2025 is a joyous event, one which we have battled for the past four years and will ease the hurt of what happened seven years ago. The fact Liz and I, along with countless other environmental advocates, persevered despite the opprobrium heaped on us taught us one thing.“The truth will prevail.”
Liz and Lee on JFK Promenade
Top photo: Looking down the Pacific Coast shoreline in San Francisco adjacent to Great Highway Park
Lee's Perspective 